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God’s Original Gift

There is an interesting coming together of different
segments of society around the issue of climate change.For some time the scientific community has
been virtually united in their warnings that humans are doing significant damage
to their world.Their voices have
recently been joined with the booming voice of Pope Francis.The Pope has brought new vigor to the concern
that we do something about damaging our earth before it is too late.

His recent encyclical, Laudato
Sí (“Praise to you, Lord)” is a wonderful spiritual resource for all of us
who want to see the theological argument for changing our ways in our care of
the world in which we live.I am
particularly interested in chapter five of his encyclical where he lays out the
spiritual call for a different way of living.That chapter begins by quoting an earlier Pope, John Paul II.Pope Francis quotes an encyclical from an
earlier Pope, John Paul II in 1979, Redemptor
Hominis (“Redeemer of Humanity”), Pope John Paul “warned that human being
frequently seem ‘to see no other meaning in their in their natural environment
than what serves for immediate use and consumption.’”

This quotation basically accuses human beings of being
self-centered and, therefore, sinful.As
much as folks may not like the word, “sin,” it does seem to me to be a
fact.I don’t really care whether we use
the word, sin.We can find another word
to describe the same phenomenon.I am
clear there is such a thing.People do
bad things.All of us occasionally have
done bad things.No one is perfect.And most of us consistently have done bad
things to our environment.Again, I know
that I have.The point both popes are
making is it is time for us to stop doing bad things to our world.I agree.But I know bad habits are hard to break.

Pope John Paul II called for a “global ecological
conversion.”That is a pretty good way
to frame it.We all know about religious
traditions that call for spiritual conversion.When I was growing up in Indiana, I knew some of my friends who would go
off to some kind of church camp and experience a conversion.I have seen those kinds of contexts where
people do experience a conversion.I
certainly do not deny the power of such a moment, even if that has not been my
own personal experience.

I think Pope John Paul II is calling for a massive global
conversion on the part of all seven billion people on earth.This is certainly not the place where we can
blame the devil…or any other reason outside of ourselves.Humans are culpable on this one.Fish and rabbits are not sinners; human
beings are.The global ecological
conversion has to be executed by us.The
big question concerns our willingness to do it.Will we?

I honestly don’t know whether humans will do anything before
the situation gets worse and we are forced to do it.The bad thing is someone my age can do
nothing different and get away with it.That is sad, because it means my generation can continue to be the
problem and never have to pay the price.Our grandkids and beyond will reap our just rewards.That is not fair.So let’s do something now---at least begin.

Once more Pope Francis quotes his predecessor, Pope John
Paul II.John Paul says there is “little
effort to ‘safeguard the moral conditions for an authentic human
ecology.’”That sounds fairly
sophisticated, but basically means there is moral demand for humans to tend to
the ecology of our universe.Not to do
so means we are immoral.I dare say,
most of us do not think we are being immoral.

That is why I think this encyclical from Pope Francis is so
important.The Pope says “The
destruction of the human environment is extremely serious, not only because God
has entrusted the world to us men and women, but because human life is itself a
gift which must be defended from various forms of debasement.”That quotation contains a profound
truth.Human life is a gift.And certainly the world in which we find
ourselves is also a gift.

I like to think of myself as a gift---God’s gift to the world.And you are also a gift.But I am also a gift with a condition put
upon it.The condition is that I and we
take care of the world which is also God’s gift to us.As Pope Francis puts it, “Authentic human
development has a moral character.It presumes
full respect for the human person, but it must also be concerned for the world
around us…”

That puts it very simply.To develop as a human means to develop moral character.And part of our moral development is to tend
to each other and tend to the world around us.Now is the time to begin practicing.We will begin by taking little steps.My hope is we learn to do this without being forced to do it.

I know I will be most helped if I have a sense of being part
of a community.I want to be part of a
community of folks who understand themselves to be gifts of God and want to
take care of the “garden” God gave us---the world.Hope you join me!

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